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Football Championship Subdivision teams adjust after short break between seasons

AP photo by Michael Ainsworth / Sam Houston State University football coach K.C. Keeler, center, is swarmed by his team after the Bearkats defeated South Dakota State 23-21 in the FCS title game on May 16 in Frisco, Texas. The Bearkats could end up playing more than 20 games this year due to last season's schedule being stretched out by the COVID-19 pandemic.
AP photo by Michael Ainsworth / Sam Houston State University football coach K.C. Keeler, center, is swarmed by his team after the Bearkats defeated South Dakota State 23-21 in the FCS title game on May 16 in Frisco, Texas. The Bearkats could end up playing more than 20 games this year due to last season's schedule being stretched out by the COVID-19 pandemic. AP photo by Michael Ainsworth / Sam Houston State University football coach K.C. Keeler, center, is swarmed by his team after the Bearkats defeated South Dakota State 23-21 in the FCS title game on May 16 in Frisco, Texas. The Bearkats could end up playing more than 20 games this year due to last season's schedule being stretched out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

By HANK KURZ Jr. / The Associated Press 4 min read

Sam Houston State University football coach K.C. Keeler didn’t ask his players to stick around long after they won the program’s first NCAA national championship this past May, capping a season that was long and draining – physically and emotionally – because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He’s also not asking them to stick around as long at practice this year.

Throughout the Football Championship Subdivision, coaches are making concessions this summer to acknowledge that the quick turnaround from last spring is hard.

Practices that typically had 24 sessions in the heat of Huntsville, Texas?

“We’re down to 19 periods,” Keeler said. “I give them a halftime after like the 11th or 12th period every day where they literally just go over and hydrate.”